3. RB Tyrone Wheatley
While it is hard to rank a player taken No. 17 overall so high among the worst signings, trades, and draft selections of all time, when you take a look at how poorly Tyrone Wheatley played, you begin to see why this was a total head-scratcher. This is the reason why we have this selection over Flowers.
To start, though, let’s talk about Wheatley’s career with the Giants. After four fantastic seasons at Michigan in which he ran for 4,178 yards and 51 TDs, the Giants opted to select Wheatley 17th overall in the1995 NFL Draft. Which, looking back at it now, did not make much sense as they already had Rodney Hampton, one of the better running backs in franchise history.
While in hindsight, Hampton would only go on to play one more full season for the Giants after dealing with multiple knee injuries that would eventually end his career. However, at the time, Hampton was only 26 and came off a season in which he ran for 1,000 yards for the fourth consecutive season. From the start, it was clear that Wheatley was not the correct draft decision.
In four seasons with the Giants, Wheatley only started eight games and ran for 1,280 yards and eight TDs. He was then let go and signed with the Raiders where he would spend the next six years, only rushing for over 1,000 yards once in his 10-year career.
Looking at the players picked after Wheatley makes this selection hurt even more. For starters, Hall of Fame defensive back Ty Law was taken six picks after Wheatley. Alongside Law, another HOFer in Derrick Brooks was taken 28th overall in the same draft- two of the best players to ever play their positions. While hindsight is always 20/20, this was a pick that made little sense at the time and still doesn’t to this day.